Softbank to give away iPhones

Japanese consumers to be tempted with handsets for free

27 February 2009 11:28 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Softbank, the exclusive mobile phone operator for Apple's iPhone in Japan, is to start giving away the touchscreen phones for free.

Amid muttered suggestions of poor sales in a highly sophisticated phone market, Softbank will now offer the 8GB iPhone 3G for free on a 2-year contract. The company was charging 23,040 yen - around £166.

The 16GB model will still demand a premium - but this has been reduced from £249 to £83. In addition, the monthly charge for internet access via the handset has been reduced.

O2, the official iPhone operator in the UK, revealed this week that total sales for the iPhone in the UK - both the original and 3G version - have only just hit the 1million mark in over 16 months of sales.

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Comments

  • i love this phone, i always wanted to get one, its so hard to get one when you live so far from a city! if i were to get one. i'd be the 1st in my community to win one Posted by Lorissa Laliberte, Canada
  • have always wanted a i-phone, but where im from its so hard to get your hands on one! i wouldnt mind to have one! this are the best phones ever made i'd say! if i were to get one, i'd show it off to the world, and be proud of it.. Posted by Roderick Gardiner, Canada
  • well i'd say here in canada, the i-phones sell for crazy, specially come x-mas, and b-days. the i-phone is a big hit, well was a big hit during the time it 1st came out, but due to the high price, and you have to travel here and there to get one. you have to go to a certain place in order to get a i-phone.
    like hell if i were given a free i-phone.. "GIMME IT"
    but things so expensive like that. everyone would want one for free
    Posted by Lorissa Laliberte, Canada

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